Iran Targets US Base in UAE With Drones as Abu Dhabi Denies Base Was Hit

Iran's army said in a statement carried by Iranian news agencies and reported by Al Jazeera on Monday, 9 Shahrivar 1405 (August 31, 2026), that it launched dozens of drones at US military assets at the Al Menhad base in the United Arab Emirates, describing it as retaliation for Iranian personnel and civilians killed and wounded in the US strike on Larak Island a day earlier. The UAE's Ministry of Defence responded that its air force had reacted to a drone approaching its territorial waters from Iran, but rejected Iran's claim that the base itself had been targeted. The UAE Foreign Ministry, in a post on X, "strongly condemned" what it called "the Iranian aggression."

The UAE strike was separate from the IRGC's earlier missile barrage on the US operated King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan hours before. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in his first comments, said Iran is not seeking war but will not stay silent in the face of any aggression. The UAE is Iran's most important trade, transit and exchange corridor, with a large share of Iran's currency transfers and re-exported goods moving through its dirham market; extending the conflict onto Emirati territory risks lifting the geopolitical premium priced into Tehran's free market dollar and dirham rates, and into safe haven demand for gold.